


Black Coffee

by titanfingers



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - College/University, Asexuality, Bisexuality, College, F/F, F/M, M/M, Other, dunkin donuts au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-11
Updated: 2015-07-11
Packaged: 2018-04-08 18:27:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4315686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/titanfingers/pseuds/titanfingers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pretty much, this is just a test run for this AU. I'm having a lot of fun with it so far and I may or may not keep going with it. Who knows. But anyway. College freshman Connie Springer gets a job at his favorite place in the world, the Dunkin Donuts a few blocks down. He quickly befriends Sasha, the girl who sees him there on a daily, if not hourly basis. Friendship, bad jokes, and weird antics ensue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Black Coffee

**Author's Note:**

> Not gonna lie, I wasn't gonna post this. But here I am, posting it. Look. Whee. PS, this entire AU was loosely inspired by the song You and I by Ingrid Michaelson. Enjoy, leave comments/feedback if you want, and most of all, thank you.

Connie Springer stepped into Dunkin Donuts on the street corner, ten minutes early for his interview. He couldn’t stop fiddling with his tie. It was the best thing he could do besides rip it off. He didn’t even know how to do that. Just having to wear a tie was bad enough, but Jean had the nerve to loan him the purple one. “It’s your color!” Jean had argued as he strangled Connie with it. He felt horribly constricted and stuffy in his gray button-down, slacks, and leather shoes. This was about as far from his usual getup as it got. The girl behind the counter snickered at him. She’d seen him there pretty much every day since school started. He looked ridiculous. “Hey,” she called to him. “C’mere.”

Connie shuffled up to the counter, feeling nervous already. He looked around, unsure of what else to do. The drab tiled floor was interesting. As was the magenta and orange tiled border in the middle of the wall all the way around the place. He pulled his focus back to the girl. She was a few inches taller than him. Her reddish-brown hair was back in a ponytail. He liked this girl, and saw her on a daily basis, but was always forgetting her name. He glanced at her nametag. Right. Sasha.

“Here,” she said with a smile, handing him a munchkin. “To take the edge off.”

Connie took it gratefully with a little smile. It was powdered. He wondered if Sasha had figured out that they were his favorites. He popped it into his mouth and reached for his wallet.

“On me,” Sasha said, holding up a hand. She laughed. The powdered sugar stood out against Connie’s dark skin. “You got a little somethin’,” she said brushing her own upper lip with a finger and handing him a napkin.

“Fanks,” he said, his mouth still full. He dusted the sugar off his face and smiled a little wider..

“So you’re Connie, right?”

He nodded.

“Think you got a shot at a job here?”

Connie swallowed and licked the corner of his mouth. “I hope so.” He shrugged. “I mean, I’m here all the time. Might as well get paid for it.” He started messing with his tie again. He felt like he was on a leash.

Sasha laughed, adjusting her visor. Her laugh was loud, but very pleasant. “S’why I started, too. You’ll do fine. I showed up in sweats with my resume written on a napkin in pencil.”

Connie’s eyes widened. “You’re joking.”

“Okay okay, I wore a skirt and I used pen.” Her face was so earnest, Connie couldn’t tell if she was fucking with him or not.

Connie snorted just as the manager stepped out. He was rather tall and bald, with prominent dark circles and eyes that looked like they’d seen hell in a dozen different ways. Connie took a deep breath and held out his hand. “Connie Springer. I’m here for my interview?” He scratched the back of his head with his free hand and tapped his toes inside his shoes.

The man took his hand firmly and shook it. “Keith Shadis. I’ll be doing your interview today.” It was clear that he usually spoke loudly, but he was trying not to scare the new kid. “Follow me.” He turned and headed for a back room. Connie swallowed, and Sasha gave him a thumbs up and an encouraging grin. He followed the man into what looked like a break room. It was rather small, with nubby gray carpet, a cheap fake wood table, and orange and magenta plastic chairs. The walls were white and bare. Shadis sat down and gestured for Connie to sit across from him. He sat stiffly, keeping his knees together and his hands folded in his lap so he wouldn’t be tempted to fidget with his tie again. It was probably crooked enough already.

“I’ve already looked at your resume,” Shadis said, his voice getting a little louder. “Not much work experience?”

“No, sir,” Connie said. “Not unless you count babysitting two little sisters as work.” He laughed nervously, but stopped when Shadis’ expression didn’t change.

“You in college?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good.” He nodded to himself. “What’re you interested in?”

“Art.” Connie instantly regretting sharing that bit of information. “But also the culinary arts. And literature.”

Shadis nodded again. “What are your best qualities?”

Well that was sudden. Connie blinked. “Um. W-well…” He scratched the back of his head again and looked down at his knees. But then he straightened himself back up and took a deep breath, lowering both hands into his lap. He made direct eye contact with Shadis and drew another breath. “I’m good with people, even difficult customers. I like making people laugh, and I think that makes me valuable in a salesperson position. I’m good at connecting with people and I enjoy doing so. I’m unfazed by people who are angry with me. I’m also very good at cooperating and being flexible when it comes to conflicts.”

“How many times did you practice that in the mirror, Springer?”

“None, sir,” Connie replied. “My roommate stood in for a mirror.”

“Do you two get along?”

“He’s one of my best friends.” Connie smiled. He and Jean had been close since kindergarten. He was an asshole, sure, but that didn’t make them any less close. Both from the Midwest, it had taken some time to adapt to living on the east coast. But they were managing. Everyone they knew had advised them against rooming together, but it worked well enough.

“Tell you what. You’re hired.” Shadis leaned back in his chair and folded his hands in his lap. “When can you start?”

“I… What?” Connie was taken aback. Wasn’t he supposed to leave and then get a phone call? This wasn’t going how Jean had told him it would go.

“I’m not going to repeat myself. Can you start tomorrow?”

Connie spent a moment with his mouth hanging open. He nodded slowly, taking it all in.

“Good. Now get out.”

Connie stepped out of the tiny room and looked at Sasha. He broke into a grin, loosened his tie, and undid his top button. He approached the counter. “You’re lookin’ at your newest co-worker,” he said.

Sasha snorted. “Congrats, you won Shadis over. When do you start?”

“Tomorrow. He said he’ll email me my hours tonight.”

They chatted awhile longer, until Sasha had to go fix a coffee machine. They exchanged numbers, Connie bought three donuts, and he left. A ten-minute walk later, he burst into his dorm room.

“I got the job!” His eyes fell on his friend, and he blushed and looked away. “Oh god. Sorry. Should’ve knocked.”

Jean lifted his head with a sigh. He was on top of his boyfriend, and things were just starting to get good. “Congratulations dude, but yeah, knocking would’ve been nice.”

“Uh. Yeah. Sorry. Hi, Marco.”

“Hey, Connie,” Marco said, sitting up and smiling at him. He glanced at Jean and quickly removed his hand from under his shirt.  “Congratulations.”

“Thanks.” Connie was still mildly uncomfortable. “I, uh, brought you guys each a donut.” He took his own out of the white paper bag and tossed it over to the pair still pressed firmly together. He shuffled over to his bed and sat down, avoiding looking at either Jean or Marco.

“Dude, chill out. It’s not like you walked in on us naked or anything,” Jean reasoned, biting into a glazed donut.

“Yeah,” Marco chimed in. “It’s really okay.”

“Donuts good?” Connie asked, desperate to change the subject. Jean and Marco both nodded. “Good.” He finished his and stood. “Text me when you’re done,” he muttered to Jean as he shut the door. He took a slow breath, took off his tie and draped it over the doorknob, and promptly set off for the dining hall. No foreplay going on there.

* * *

 

Connie wasn’t thrilled about having to be in at seven in the morning, but he was still happy that he’d finally gotten a job. He walked the few blocks from his dorm to the Dunkin Donuts, and was greeted at the door by Sasha.

“Good morning, sunshine,” she sang joyously, offering Connie a cup of coffee. Black. She’d remembered. The only thing he didn’t enjoy copious amounts of sugar in was his coffee. He accepted it gratefully and sipped at it while Sasha went over the basics. She plopped a visor on his head and dragged him behind the counter. “Donuts,” she said, pointing to the baskets of donuts behind them. “Coffee.” She pointed to the machines. “Money box.” She pointed to the cash registers. “Angry people.” She pointed to the other side of the counter where customers lined up. “I know it’s a lot to take in, but did you get all that?”

“Information assimilated. Ready to begin,” Connie said in a robot voice, offering a warm smile, which was rare in the mornings.

“Off to help the capitalist agenda, then,” she said, returning the warm smile. She liked Connie. He was really sweet and seemed funny. Too nice for a guy that was hardly taller than five two. The first time he came into the store, she pegged him as the kind of guy with a huge Napoleon complex. For once, she was glad she’d been wrong.

Connie laughed and positioned himself behind Sasha. She showed him the ropes, and most of their shifts were spent laughing about how badly Sasha had fucked up on her first day, and her reassuring Connie that he was doing much better than she had. When their work day was finally over, they were exhausted and starving.

Connie was watching Sasha stuff leftover donuts and munchkins into a paper bag. She’d explained earlier that while it was against store policy, Shadis let her do it and covered the cost himself because he liked her. His stomach growled. “I know this great place a few blocks down from here. It doesn’t look like anything on the street, but they’ve got the best fries I’ve ever had.”

She immediately perked up. “Did you say fries?”

Connie nodded, his expression more serious than it had been all day. “I said fries.”

Sasha dropped the paper bag on the counter and grabbed both Connie’s hands in hers. “Please. Take me to the wonderful fry place. Please.” She bounced up and down a few times.

“Okay, okay,” Connie laughed, heartened by Sasha’s enthusiasm. They clocked out together, and set out for the legendary fry place. They talked the whole way there, mostly about food and how much they couldn’t wait to eat it. Sasha started honking like a goose at a car that was going too fast, and Connie joined her without question. Afterwards, they continued on like it was normal without so much as a giggle. A few minutes later, they did it again. Then again. Then at a biker, but more quietly as not to startle him.

They reached the restaurant and were greeted by a rather short girl with a septum piercing and a mohawk. The scent of frying and roasting potatoes had soaked into every surface of the building. It swirled around their heads and gently caressed their noses and tongues.

“So,” she said after they were seated, eyeing the menu like it was her prey. “Where do you go to school?”

“Shiganshina University. You?”

“Get out.” Sasha could be bothered to stop looking at the menu for that. “You too?”

“Wait, you go there?” Connie looked up.

“Heck yeah. What program are you in?” Her eyes drifted back to the menu. There was an entire page devoted to potato-based entrees. She couldn’t stay away for long.

“Art. Animation, actually.”

Sasha nodded. “That explains why I’ve never seen you on campus. I’m on the sciencey side. Mostly chem. I wanna go into molecular gastronomy.”

Connie felt a rush of excitement. He loved molecular gastronomy. He’d considered it for a career before he realized his science grades were absolute crap. He struggled to understand how exactly it all worked, but he did know that it was, without a doubt, the coolest of cool shit. “No way.” He was grinning like an excited moron. The waiter placed a small basket of appetizer fries on the table and took their drink orders. Connie ordered a Coke, and Sasha ordered a Shirley Temple.

“I can show you some stuff,” she offered, turning back to Connie. “I haven’t taken any classes on it yet, but I’ve learned some stuff online. I’m a master at balsamic pearls.”

“Yes!” Connie was bouncing in his seat. “It’s so cool. So so cool. I’ve never seen it in person before. I gotta. You have to show me.”

Sasha nodded, equally excited. Not many people she met were so into molecular gastronomy. Not many people even knew what it was. But her excitement was quickly redirected. Appetizer fries. Motherfucking _appetizer fries_. She plucked one from the red plastic basket in the middle of the table and nibbled on it. “Holy shit.” She crammed the rest of it into her mouth, now so excited about so many things that she felt ready to explode. “Connie.” She pressed her palms together in front of her. “You are a godsend.” She looked down at the little basket. “As are you, my small salty friends.”

Connie grinned at her excitement. He ate a small handful of fries at once. “Don’t call them friends,” he protested. “They go in our mouths.”

“Fish are friends, not food.” Sasha ate another dozen fries or so before speaking again. “You into Pixar? Ghibli?”

“Absolutely,” Connie said. “Love both. My parents got me a cell from Kiki’s Delivery Service for my birthday last year.” He ate another fry. “Fun fact, each frame of Sully in Monsters Inc. took eighteen hours to render.”

Sasha swiped the very last french fry from the basket and popped it into her mouth. “Dunno what rendering is, but that sounds cool and complicated.” She licked the salt from the corners of her mouth, and the waiter came back with their drinks.

* * *

****After a ridiculously large dinner of as many types of fries as they could stuff down their throats, the pair of full, rather sleepy students took the subway, leaning on each other for support. Sasha was experiencing the heaviest, most wonderful food coma she’d ever been in, and she couldn’t wait to go to bed. “Great little place, right?” Connie asked, giving Sasha a half-hearted noogie.

Sasha gave him one back. “The best,” she said, catching a stray lock of hair between her fingers and twirling it slowly. “I owe you for taking me there. What’s your schedule look like for the rest of the week?” It was a Sunday. She pulled her own up on her phone and stared at it, waiting for Connie to find his.

“’Bout the same,” he said, looking back and forth between their phones.

Sasha nodded and then snatched Connie’s phone out of his hand. She changed her name on her contact info to French Fry Overlord and handed it back. Connie looked at it and laughed. She got off at her stop, leaving Connie to wait for one more. They bid each other goodnight with another noogie exchange, and Sasha stepped off the subway. She walked to her building slowly, scanned her ID, and dragged her feet to her room. No sock on the door. Good. She wanted her bed. She unlocked the door and stumbled in, interrupting a very serious conversation Ymir and Krista were having. Krista was lying happily on Ymir’s stomach, her feet up in the air. They both looked at Sasha as she flopped onto her bed. Her comforter and sheets were covered with printed images of twisty pretzels. Above her bed were several posters of food masterpieces. She clicked on her Pacman lamp beside her bed and sighed.

“Hi, Sasha!” Krista said, sweet and cheery as ever.

“Hey,” Sasha greeted, offering a very tired smile. “You spendin’ the night?”

“Am I?” Krista asked, tilting her head at Ymir, hitting her with those big blue eyes.

“Depends, babe,” Ymir said, averting her eyes from the powerful gaze of her tiny girlfriend. “Who’s better, Batman or Spiderman?”

“Spiderman,” Krista said firmly. “He has actual powers. Bruce Wayne is just rich and sad.”

“Out,” Ymir said, making to lift Krista off of her.

“You know I’m right,” she argued, wrapping herself around Ymir. “I can agree that the villains in Batman are way better, though. The ladies, especially.”

Ymir sighed. “Okay, you can stay.”

“Yes, I’m spending the night,” Krista said to Sasha, giving a triumphant grin.

Sasha laughed. What Krista lacked in size, she made up for in persuasive stares and painfully cute sweetness. Sasha liked her a lot. Almost better than her roommate. Of course, it helped that Krista could actually carry on a conversation. Ymir wasn’t much of a talker. Or a foodie, for that matter. She just ate whatever and appreciated none of it unless Krista cooked it.

“I’m gonna go grab some food,” Sasha said, hauling herself out of bed. “Later.” Yes, she had just consumed more starch than she ever had in one hour. Even more than that one Thanksgiving dinner that nobody in her family talked about. But she was hungry again, and she’d left today’s leftover donuts at work. Connie had distracted her with fancy talk of fries and the like. Not that she really minded, she decided, changing into big sweats with _Shiganshina U_ down one leg. She knocked on the door across from her room. “Mikasa,” she said. “You there?”

Mikasa poked her head out of the door. “Hey.”

“I’m going to get food. Wanna come with?” She smiled.

“Sure.” Mikasa closed the door to get shoes, and quickly reemerged. She was wearing flannel pajama pants and a tank top. _Cute as ever_ , Sasha thought fondly. They set off for the dining hall together, and, discreetly, Sasha took her phone out of her pocket to text Connie.

**Author's Note:**

> God that was scary. If you got this far, thank you so much for reading. Comments and feedback are always appreciated. Thank you again, and have a lovely day. ^u^


End file.
